The Digestive System and the Absorption of Nutrients

A high school health teacher asks you to give a lecture to a group of teenaged students discussing the digestive system and absorption of nutrients from food. You only have 10 minutes, and need to give just the basics to keep their attention. Provide an overview of the topics you would present.

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First I would talk about what digestion is: the breakdown of food materials into smaller molecules to be absorbed into the blood and carried to the cells throughout the body. The nutrients that are in food are used by the body for cell building and energy.

Next, I would discuss the anatomy of the digestive system and the purpose for each part: (this is a good place to insert pictures) Mouth, teeth, tongue, salivary glands, esophagus, small intestine, pancreas, gall bladder, liver, large intestine, rectum, anus.

Then I would explain how digestion works to mix food using peristalsis, moving food along the ...